All Quotes

"You can dream. Hakuna matata, it means don’t worry. When you are young, you worry about the most minute things in life that you think everybody cares about and will judge you about. But no, everybody is busy doing their own thing. No worries. As long as you put in the work, including the inner work, you’ll be good."

"I like to look at the world and see that most people have good intentions. There are exceptions, but what is not so great on social media right now is that a lot of different groups are making it so hard for each other."

"This is the work we have to do. Engaging with haters from a negative place won’t do anything. We need to come from a place of love and understanding, and I had to try to understand and let go."

"“It was only in the last few years that I slowly started coming to terms with my body and not letting what other people say about it stop me from living my best life. We are all worthy of hitting the beach no matter our size or shape. Remember that.”"

"“Kasi ang naisip ko (Because I am thinking), whole. Pero siguro kung hindi ‘yon (But it's not that), maybe the word is ‘fulfilled.’ Fulfilled, content and whole.”"

"“Because before, restless. ‘Yun pala, ‘Ikaw lang pala ‘yung kailangan ko. Na kung saan-saan ko hinahanap, may it be material things and other things na don’t really serve my highest purpose here on earth.’ Nandu’n lang pala. Takot na takot kasi ako talaga dati.”"

"“I have a lot of moments in my life that I’m not very proud of. Pero pagsusumikapin kong maging isang karapat-dapat, na respetuhin niya, at tingalain at mahalin."

"“‘Yun ang promise ko sa mga magulang ko, I will do my best to be the best parent to my child.”"

"“It is only because of the grace of God because siya lang talaga nagbigay sa ‘kin nito, e (He was the only one who really gave it to me, huh?).”"

"(About the the of the 1990 high school graduation exam) I would have proposed a different topic. I would have set the Italian exam paper on: “What are the elements that—historically, culturally, and institutionally—define the unity of a country, in a world that, on the one hand, increasingly values particular realities (from an ethnic, traditional, or cultural point of view) and, on the other, broader supranational dimensions?”"

"(About the Bicameral Committee for Constitutional Reforms) The conditions are in place for positive work. We must all carry it out with the best interests of our country in mind. We will and must be judged on this work."

"I believe the time is ripe for a woman as President of the Italian Republic. This is also thanks to the long journey women have made over the past 50 years in the fight for rights and complete equality. :*‘’Bonino: “Yes to the challenge for the Quirinale”‘’, ‘'La Stampa’', March 7, 1999."

"(About the comparison between Palmiro Togliatti and Massimo D'Alema) D'Alema has great political intelligence, but he has less experience, which leads him to be more impetuous and less attentive to repercussions."

"Since women have been recognized as fully equal in the political sphere, with the right to vote and stand for election, it follows that women themselves must be emancipated from conditions of backwardness and inferiority in all areas of social life, and restored to a legal position that does not undermine their personality and dignity as women and citizens."

"(About the exploratory task of forming a government entrusted to her by Francesco Cossiga) Perhaps to say that it is a historic event is to say too much. But certainly, it is a development of no small importance. :*‘’“I light a candle, so that it won't be me”‘’, ‘'La Stampa’', March 28, 1987."

"(About Palmiro Togliatti) They spoke of his ties to Stalin and his awe, even in difficult times. In reality, he knew him little: they had met on three or four occasions. He admired him as a tough and tenacious fighter, but he understood the revelations of the 20th Congress and was shocked by them. [...] He had a keen sensitivity, a strong propensity to understand. I know that the image of him is different, but I knew him in another way. He defended himself against facts that deeply disturbed him, but his intelligence forced him to accept them as moments in the journey of civilization."

"(About the defeat of the Popular Democratic Front in the 1948 elections) On April 18, we found ourselves faced with a population called upon for the first time, unlike in 1946, to choose the parties that would govern after the breakup of the anti-fascist unity. It was a society we knew very little about."

"From an interview with ‘'l'Unità’'; quoted in ‘’[http://www.archiviolastampa.it/component/option,com_lastampa/task,search/mod,libera/action,viewer/Itemid,3/page,9/articleid,1326_02_1988_0094_0030_19271116/ Nilde Iotti recalls April 18, 1948. “At that time, the Italian Communist Party did not understand society,” La Stampa, April 16, 1988."

"(About Massimo D'Alema secretary of the Democratic Party of the Left) At a time like this, we need a party leader with many skills."

"The Constitution does not and cannot have either an ideology or a partisan philosophy."

"(About nuclear armaments) The atomic race has reached a dangerous and intolerable limit, as ordinary citizens in every country understand. The time has come for their leaders to understand this too. :*From a speech to Michelin workers; quoted in ‘’A message of peace and hope from Nilde Iotti visiting the “Granda”‘’, ‘'La Stampa’', March 18, 1985."

"The presence of women in Parliament has elevated women's issues as an integral part of Italian political life. In the past, these issues were kept on the sidelines."

"The Resistance was an extraordinary event. It achieved a truly exceptional unity that ranged from Badoglio's officers to communist workers."

"(Referring to the Northern League) The leagues stir up old ideas of separation and selfishness that call national unity into question."

"In the democratic system established by the Constitution, the Parliament, and only the Parliament, is the expression of the will of the people. Our Constitution does not allow the country to be without a Parliament endowed with its powers for even a single day."

"We ask that children born outside of marriage be recognized in all respects, both during marriage and when that marriage has broken down, because we believe that this is the only possible solution, the only morally just solution. [...] Children do not ask to be born, and the responsibility for their birth does not lie with them, but with the parents who brought them into the world. Therefore, the responsibility of the parents cannot fall on them."

"I shouldn't speak, given that I was president of the Chamber of Deputies, but de Mita's main flaw is that he wants to respond to everyone who speaks, one by one. He never waits for the discussion on a point to be exhausted. :*‘’Iotti: “De Mita does not know how to be president”, La Stampa, November 19, 1992."

"(About the attack to Palmiro Togliatti) It is impossible to understand that dramatic event without recalling the heated climate that followed the Christian Democrats' resounding election victory on April 18, 1948. That climate was very important, it was decisive. No one could have imagined that the election campaign led by the Church of Pius XII and the civic committees of Luigi Gedda could reach such a degree of violence. A violence that did not abate on the part of the victors even after their overwhelming success. That atmosphere, I repeat, was undoubtedly at the root of the attack to Togliatti. :*‘’Four gunshots to kill the Best‘’, ‘'la Repubblica’', July 14, 1998."

"(About her relationship with Palmiro Togliatti) To think that I could have made an emotional ultimatum such as “if you stay in Russia, I'll leave you” is to ignore the nature of our relationship and Togliatti's temperament. :*‘’A story of love and politics‘’, ‘'La Stampa’', March 28, 1987."

"(About women's commitments beyond work) When I started my political career, I had a home and had to think about that too, in addition to the thousand commitments that political life entails. :*‘’Parliament celebrates Nilde Iotti's 70th birthday‘’, ‘'La Stampa’', April 10, 1990."

"(Abot attack to Palmiro Togliatti) When, a few days after his surgery, he was allowed to read the newspapers, Togliatti wanted to read the reports of the attack. He was struck by a nine-column headline in L'Unità: “Away with the government of civil war.” I remember his comment: if they had written “Away with the Minister of the Interior,” that would have been a request that was not only plausible but also acceptable! And in fact, it later emerged that in the Council of Ministers, which met urgently on the same day as the attack, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carlo Sforza, and his undersecretary, a very young Aldo Moro, had raised the issue of the Minister of the Interior's resignation."

"(About the request for a new Constituent Assembly during Tangentopoli) A constituent assembly is convened when there is such a rupture within the country, as happened after the war and after the fall of fascism, and this was indispensable. Even in the presence of very serious events, of a dangerous degeneration of the political system, we are not in a post-war situation, and resorting to a constituent assembly seems to me to be truly excessive."

"Interviewer: In recent months, you have become even more popular because you are the author of a proposal to drastically reduce—if not halve—the number of deputies and senators. Why? Nilde Iotti: In 1948, when the Constitution of the Italian Republic came into force, we were emerging from fascism and there was a need to reestablish a relationship, a democratic fabric with society. But now there are: Regional Councils, which were elected in 1970, Provincial Councils, Municipal Councils. We are faced with a much more complex society, a more complex democracy. So, I believe that the number of parliamentarians is really too high."

"We loved the mountains. Togliatti was a keen walker, as was I."

"(About Togliatti's memorial) It is not true that Togliatti was exploited, that the memorial was used against Khrushchev. I do not see a connection between the memorial and the fall of Khrushchev. The great process that would lead to this event was already underway in the USSR."

"(About his last trip to Russia) Togliatti was concerned about relations between the USSR and China, and about the situation between the party and intellectuals that had arisen after Khrushchev had taken a very rigid and harsh stance."

"(Aboout the Togliatti amnesty of 1946) The amnesty helped break the continuity with a regime that constantly preached revenge."

"(About Togliatti's failure to participate in the Resistance movement) I assure you that Togliatti was not far from the Resistance. He was a cold man, yes. But he hated badges, and the only one he always wanted to show off was the one given to him by the Volunteer Corps of Freedom. If he could have, he would have parachuted into northern Italy. Cold, yes, but he had utopia inside him."

"Talking about amnesty in the case of the Years of Lead would be out of place. Let's not forget that the armed struggle was waged against a democratic state, not against a fascist regime."

"(About Clean Hands) What frightens and worries me is the slowness of the judicial proceedings in the face of a perverse intertwining of politics and business that has increasingly taken on the configuration of a vast, widespread, ramified system."

"All women's stories are also stories of caste."

"There is no more terrible fascist system than the family."

"A robust digital economy is our hope for a post-COVID future! Slow internet speed plus limited online access equals a sluggish economy and a sorry standard of living, more so for local government units in more remote areas of the country."

"Referencing the exile of the Marcos family after the 1986 Edsa Revolution: Naalala ko nung nakita ko yung pagtangay kay President Duterte, eh ‘yung pag-kidnap rin ng tatay ko, nung tinangay kami papuntang Hawaii kaya para sa akin pareho lang ‘yun at hindi ‘yun tama. (When I saw how President Duterte was taken away, it reminded me of my father’s abduction and how we were brought to Hawaii. For me, it’s the same — and it’s wrong.)"

"The place that Solomon made to worship in, called the Far Mosque, is not built of earth and water and stone, but of intention and wisdom and mystical conversation and compassionate action."

"This heart sanctuary does exist, but it can't be described. Why try! Solomon goes there every morning and gives guidance with words, with musical harmonies, and in actions, which are the deepest teaching. A prince is just a conceit until he does something with generosity."

"Gamble everything for love, if you are a true human being."

"Do not believe in an absurdity no matter who says it."

"Silence is an ocean. Speech is a river.When the ocean is searching for you, don't walk into the language-river. Listen to the ocean, and bring your talky business to an endTraditional words are just babbling in that presence, and babbling is a substitute for sight."

"Every object and being in the universe is a jar overflowing with wisdom and beauty, a drop of the Tigris that cannot be contained by any skin. Every jarful spills and makes the earth more shining, as though covered in satin."